environment + technology

Think to open U.S. electric car factory

photo: Think

Norwegian electric car company Think announced Thursday that it will open a factory in the United States in 2010 to produce its City urban runabout.

Think CEO Richard Canny, a former Ford executive, is in Ann Arbor, Mich., this week meeting with officials from eight states vying for the factory. But don’t put in your order just yet – only 2,500 cars will roll off the assembly line the first year and they will be reserved for demonstration projects and fleet sales.

“The U.S. is quickly overtaking Europe as an attractive market for EVs and is an ideal location to engineer and build EVs,” Canny said in a statement. “We see ourselves playing a small but potentially growing role in re-inventing the U.S. auto industry by bringing back new manufacturing jobs to the U.S.” Think has not yet responded to Green Wombat’s inquiry about which states, other than Michigan, is in talks with the company for the factory.

How Think will finance its North American expansion remains an open question. Just three months ago the company was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy as the global financial crisis cut off capital and forced Think to idle its Norwegian factory and lay off workers. The company obtained $5.7 million interim financing in January and recalled some workers. A report on Treehugger Thursday cited sources that said Think was contemplating relocating to Sweden or the U.K.

Think spokeswoman Katinka Von Der Lippe told Green Wombat on Thursday that the interim financing has been extended but that the company is still seeking a new infusion of capital to resume full production of the City, a two-seater that goes 112 miles on a charge with a top speed of about 62 miles per hour. Update: Think’s U.S. spokesman, Brendan Prebo, tells Green Wombat that Think will raise most of the new capital from its existing European and U.S. investors, which include General Electric (GE), so it can resume full production of the City in Norway.

The company said that it will apply for a low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Energy under its Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program to help pay for the factory. Prebo declined to reveal the size of the DOE loan the company will seek but noted it “will be a substantial investment for Think” but small compared to what some of the big automakers want.

After the first-year startup phase, the U.S. factory will initially employ 300 workers and produce 16,000 cars annually, according to Think. Capacity would eventually be expanded to 60,000 cars and a workforce of 900. A research and development center will employ about 70 people.

But calling a Think facility a factory is somewhat misleading. It’s really an assembly plant and the one Green Wombat visited in 2007 in Aurskog, Norway, was more Ikea than Henry Ford, with plastic-bodied Think City models quietly gliding through clean well-lighted spaces.

The question for Think, Tesla Motors other EV startups is whether they can gain a foothold in the market before the major players big-foot them with their own electric and plug-in electric cars. Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Toyota (TM), Renault-Nissan and other global automakers all are accelerating plans to introduce electric vehicles.

Thursday’s announcement follows the formation of Think North America, unveiled in April 2008 at Fortune’s Brainstorm Green conference. A bicoastal group of venture capital firms – Silicon Valley’s Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Boston’s Rockport Capital Partners – signed on as lead investors.

18 Responses

If they’re smart they’ll head to the employment at will states and avoid the UAW in Michigan. Follow in Toyota and BMW’s footsteps and save yourself the headache. Using an already existing building and retooling it would be a great way to “Go Greener” also.

If THINK wants to brand themselves as environmental, they should consider reviving one of the old abandoned Ford, GM, or Packard plants in Detroit, and show the others how to do it. You cannot get more green than re-using a building, and NOT building new facilities out in suburbia. (and avoid unions).

While I think that there is definitely room in the nascent electric car market for another player, I don’t know if Think can compete. Though I do applaud the effort.

First, the 62 mph limit is not going to cut it in the U.S. A large part of “commuter driving” is on highways. Here in Phoenix, that’s 65 mph. If they can set the limit at 70, there should be enough wiggle room to maneuver within traffic to change lanes and etc.

Second, the City is not very aerodynamic. I’ve been following Aptera for more than a year. Over that time, I’ve come to recognize what shapes have a low drag coefficient. The City, even at first glance, is much less aerodynamic than even a Prius.

Third, a plastic body? I assume that’s wrapped around steel. At least I hope so. Otherwise Think is going to have a difficult time re-engineering the City for NTHSA safety standards. Me, personally, I’ll stick with carbon fiber for my next car-of-the-future.

Fourth, Aptera is going to beat Think to market by about six to eight months (assuming Aptera stays on schedule and Think begins production between April and June 2010).

The 2e is faster, safer, more efficient, and most importantly, prettier. I know who I’m asking to prom next year.

I don’t plan to buy a new car until the plug ins are affordable. My Honda can last at least 500,000 and I only have 50K so far. If car manufacturers want to continue building gas only cars, I can wait longer than they can before plenty of $20,000 plug in models are affordable and available. Americans can no longer afford to buy a new car every few years, especially if they are not affordable plug ins.

This looks like a much better EV than the future Chevy “Volt”. You can actually carry something in the Think like groceries, etc. An electric car that’s actually useful.

The Volt, while interesting, seems much less utilitarian (and much more expensive).

Sad that this car was actually developed in the US, but abandoned then sold to Norway. They develop it and sell it back to us! At least it might be made here in the US. Our automakers seem so out of touch with what consumer’s want.

Of course none of these vehicles will be initially available to buy. Why sale to the public when the federal and state governments are more then willing to pay nice fat markups? For all the governments bashing of private companies they sure do a good job about ignoring their own wasteful spending.

I do have to wonder what kind of safety standards are applied in Norway seeing as how Europe doesn’t have the abundance of SUVs and trucks that we have over here so it would stand to reason that the frames could be. Plus if the max speed on open roads really is 55 you really don’t have to have as many safety requirements as you would with higher speed limits and much bigger vehicles in the mix.

According to Think, the City meets all U.S. and European safety standards and has received the requisite approval. The previous generation of the car was designed by Ford, when the automaker owned Think, for sale in the U.S.

Having driven the Think City a couple of times, I actually found it quite fun – the instant acceleration you get with an EV makes it take off like a pocket rocket. And like Dr. Who’s Tardis, it’s bigger than it looks on the inside.

Think has little to worry about with competition from the domestic automakers. They do not understand the basic parameters of what people really need and will not be able to ever really adapt to todays market. If Think can really sustain an all electric 112 mile range with a 62 mph top speed for at least two thirds of that time they have a winner. The major players have not even been able to propose such a thing without hybrid support.

I like the models for the Victor Good Electric Cars if they could ever get theri funding- Why is the Us government funding a company from Norway when they have an American company trying to do the same thing?! Check out http://www.VictorGoodElectricCar.com – Why dosen’t our government stop taking about supporting innovation, small business and entrepreneurs and support the VGEC – heck the guy even has thought out an innovative corporate structure- “a corporation with a conscience”- Where’s Joe Biden and Obama for this one!?

Considering the only VGEC that has any specs shows it will have a top speed of 25 mph and a range of 100 miles, I don’t think it’s really ready for prime time yet. They should probably get some funding for more R&D rather than production if those numbers are similar across the board.

It seems the Victor Good Electric Cars are “NEV” class and regulated to 25mph- but can be modified to 35mph – but legislation needs to be passed – BTW Ray- they have specs on all their vehicles if you click on the big bold writing on their home page that reads “click here for information on the….”
Anyway it is a market that is real for the NEV class- the government has been buying the GEM for years and these are a hugh improvement- we could certainly use them here in Florida! I would like to know more about them and why hasn’t the government tried to help them get rolling instead of a Norwegian company.

I had the Think City back in 2001 – 2003, company was owned by Ford back then. It was an amazing car! I leased it for $200 a month, electric bill only went up a tiny bit. Never had to get gas! Was able to commute to work and back and used it on the weekends. LOVE it!!!! It is a no brainer! I have the plug in my garage still and can hardly wait until it comes back!

About Green Wombat

Green Wombat is written by
Todd Woody, a veteran environmental journalist based in California who writes for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Grist and Yale e360. He's one of the few people on the planet who have held a northern hairy-nosed wombat in the wild.

Todd formerly was a senior editor at Fortune magazine, an assistant managing editor at Business 2.0 magazine and the business editor of the San Jose Mercury News.